


Aftersting

by bofoddity



Category: Spider-Man (Movies - Raimi)
Genre: F/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pillow Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-19
Updated: 2005-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 07:30:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1638983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bofoddity/pseuds/bofoddity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter was not invulnerable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aftersting

**Author's Note:**

> Written for nightchik

Peter was not invulnerable.

MJ had learnt that it took a lot to hurt Peter, and 'a lot' is definitely the term for the beating he got this time. The bruising on his body was dark and angry, and Peter trembled when she brushed her fingertips lightly across the marks. She murmured a soft apology and moved her hands up to his neck, entangling her fingers carefully into his soft hair. They had only few hours to spend together until the dawn, after which MJ would have to hurry to work and Peter would have to prepare to meeting with Harry. A meeting which Peter was so hopeful about that he could barely get any sleep, despite the exhausting battle he just went through, and so MJ decided to make him talk.

"So, The Punisher," she whispered, smiling to Peter as his eyes searched for hers through the dark. "What was he like?"

Peter was first reluctant to talk about her about his missions as Spider-Man, insisting that it might be too much for her to handle. Later he claimed that her reaction to this had been scarier than Electro's outfit. But now his eyes lit up excitement, and he slid down from top of her to snuggle against her side, and began his story:

"I guess the easiest way to describe him is that he's the last guy you would like to meet in a dark alley. That's how it was for me." Peter grimaced for a moment to himself, and MJ smiled at the top of his head. Peter took a moment to nuzzle her collarbone, his mouth still lingering moistly against her skin as he continued: "We met at a bank robbery, and I think he misunderstood why exactly I was holding the money. And he wasn't interested in hearing my point of view, either."

MJ's thoughts drifted irresistibly to their grand moment in the alley and Peter's defeated voice as he lamented over the world's distrust over his intentions, and the difference between then and his casual tone now made her shiver. She gathered him a little closer to her, and he felt strangely fragile in her arms despite the hard, defined lines of his body. MJ ignored that and concentrated on Peter again:

"It was only after he beat me up when he decided that maybe I wasn't the bad guy after all. Some people just have to believe that they won before they finally start listening to others." Peter's tiny huff brought smile back to MJ's lips, and this time it didn't go unnoticed, and he narrowed his eyes at her mischief. "Hey, I won! Believe the man, not the bruise."

"The Punisher just didn't know it," MJ agreed mildly, to which Peter nodded persistently.

"Exactly!" He cracked a grin at her, and she had to laugh out softly, during which Peter took the opportunity to bury his face against her neck, mouthing the pale skin there. But his movements died out quickly, indicating that he was getting tired, and he soon settled down against her, quickly wrapping up his story: "He sneered at me when he left, though, so I think we have another Bugle-believer. Think of him as Jameson in a tight suit."

He pondered over this for a moment, upper lip curling with slight distaste.

"Then again, don't."

They could end the conversation there. They could end it there, and they could both sleep peacefully. But although Peter healed fast, and maybe he wouldn't run into another more difficult enemy within the next days, but she had promised herself to accept all aspects of his secret life, and that meant the parts she wasn't that willing to hear. And so she asked:

"How bad was it?"

She could have asked more gently, and she could have asked nothing at all, but they both needed him to speak, needed to remember that he wasn't immortal. Peter was quiet, but MJ gave him time, allowing him to assemble his thoughts in the gentlest version of truth possible, no matter how easily she would see through his comforting truths. He cleared his throat and spoke:

"He liked to use weapons, preferably from far. He was also really good at keeping out of my reach." He hadn't mentioned that The Punisher would have any sort of superpowers, and the fact that an ordinary human could get dangerous enough to harm Peter unnerved MJ. She stared at the bruises spread over the slim length of his back, wondering if they were from gunshots. No, Peter could be cut, Peter could bleed, his skin was human's completely, thin and frail and so easy to break through. She must have looked troubled as Peter suddenly gave her a worried look, adding hastily: "Hey, I've faced worse. This guy just managed to surprise me. I guess you can see why I'm not too happy when this happens."

She did, and it made her just as unhappy as it did Peter. Unpredictability had been one of the things that made loving Peter so difficult in the past, but even as he had allowed her to enter his life, sharing both sides of his world with her, their life was hardly stable. It was easy to believe that Spiderman was beyond human things such as hurt when he slung effortlessly across the heights, as if the entire city was his web, but it took the shape of his face through the thin mask, the softness of his skin beneath to remind MJ that it was still Peter behind the mask, Peter who used to be more clumsy than smooth and who got shoved around by jerks. Not all of that was in the past, but his true enemies were so much more menacing now, and while he came home in one piece most of the time, MJ feared the day he would be too beaten to heal.

"Yes, I can," she whispered, sudden ache in her heart, and wrapped her arms tight around him.

His chin had been just a breath away from connecting with her neck, so she could feel his jaw drop open in surprise, but he was quick to respond to the embrace, leaning close to kiss her behind the ear. His breath was warm and moist, comfortingly alive. She squeezed him a little longer before finally loosening her hold, glancing over to the digital clock.

"If we try really hard," she remarked, grinning teasingly at Peter's still dazzled face, "we may actually catch some sleep before the morning."

He pouted at her. "Yeah, go on, add pressure." But he had to pause in order to yawn anyway, withdrawing from their shared warmth and pulling a pillow under his head, his large eyes closing. "It's going to be great."

"What is?" MJ asked, playing with his brown hair. There were no blood knots to untangle.

"Meeting Harry. I really think we can.. work things out.." He yawned again, finally too sleepy to speak.

MJ watched him for a long time before settling down herself, promising herself to believe him. Everything would be okay tomorrow.


End file.
